[VenturaRoyal]

What sort of budget are you thinking of?
Do you already have a dac sorted?

I have a topping D30. I’d like to spend no more than $400-$500.

 

[Phantaminum]

Any advice about pairing the Auteur with the Valhalla 2 or MCTH, as requested in the OP above? I'm curious about those particular amps as well.

I personally love the sound from the MCTH and Auteurs. Compared to the Gilmore Lite MK2 but this with the Eikon perforated pad. I think with the Auteurs pads the Gilmore Lite MK2 would be a good pair.

 

[VenturaRoyal]

I personally love the sound from the MCTH and Auteurs. Compared to the Gilmore Lite MK2 but this with the Eikon perforated pad. I think with the Auteurs pads the Gilmore Lite MK2 would be a good pair.

What would you say the CTH does to the sound?

 

[Phantaminum]

What would you say the CTH does to the sound?

It has a natural sound compared to other amps. This is a subjective view from me so you may feel the same or feel much different. I use different tubes that are not approved but sound amazing to myself. I think the hybrid tube amp has great synergy with the Auteurs and HD650. Not so much planars.

 

[VenturaRoyal]

It has a natural sound compared to other amps. This is a subjective view from me so you may feel the same or feel much different. I use different tubes that are not approved but sound amazing to myself. I think the hybrid tube amp has great synergy with the Auteurs and HD650. Not so much planars.

Any tubes to roll that you’d recommend? I think I’m going to pull the trigger on a CTH.

 

[Sniperpr5]

I got in some new tubes and did some rolling in the Freya and wow the Auteurs sound damn near perfect tonight.

Rolled in some Raytheon JAN VT-231 on the gain and some Ken-Rad VT-231 on the followers. Man it brings out some very nice bass. I’m loving everything about this pairing!

 

[Hansotek]

Any tubes to roll that you’d recommend? I think I’m going to pull the trigger on a CTH.

The stock tube actually sounds pretty good. Lots of people also seem to be using 6C8G’s with adaptors and a couple socket savers to raise the tube socket above the cutout. These will work fine, but I believe running them this way will void the warranty.

Not a lot of love for any particular alternatives as far as 6922/6DJ8/7308 etc. type tubes go.

 

[Valens7]

I’ve found the Amperex “A-frame” 6DJ8 with orange globe print to be a notable improvement over the stock EH 6922. Smoother presentation across the board and more detailed mids are benefits.

If you enjoy the using the Auteur with an MCTH, I’d recommend the investment in that tube.

 

[smodtactical]

Using the Suede perforated Eikon pads on my Auteur and I loved the darker bassier tilt vs auteur perforated suede pads.

I am kind of craving even more bass and darkness (especially since I love the atticus sound but want to hear Auteur treble with a darker bassy sound). Has anyone put on Ori pads on the auteur? Does it fit? Given I won't buy the leather/protein pads... any recommendations to darken the auteur more?

 

[smodtactical]

Ok I did an experiment, I put the ZMF Ori suede solid pads on the Auteur and the perforated suede Eikon pads on the Atticus.

Auteur: Increases the bass impact and darkness a lot! Its a warm bassy headphone with detail but it sounds a bit muddy and not as satisfying, 3d and hard slamming as the atticus with the Ori pads. Although it was interesting to listen to, too much air and treble separation was lost.

Atticus: WHAT? There is no bass anymore? I thought how could this be possible? A pad change makes these bass monsters into headphones that have less bass than my HD800S. I cannot believe how much it neutralized the bass. Bottom line, do not do this.

I switched pads back and appreciated the auteur's great warm balance, treble detail and life like sound. I also appreciated the Atticus's huge slam, 3d treble detail and engagement.

I do wonder what the solid suede auteur pads sound like on the auteur, perhaps it will tilt it a bit warmer while still keeping most of the air and treble clarity.

 

[Monsterzero]

any recommendations to darken the auteur more?

You can try a warmer DAC

 

[thecrow]

after trying the eikon and atticus briefly last year and not being won over (for my preferences) to hand over my money (after a lot of thinking, umming and ahhing) I decided to plunge into the auteur unheard. Closer to neutral which lines up with me better. It arrived today.

Very initial impressions - about an hour.

WOW!!
Very comfortable and light on my head (teak version) - did not expect that
Sound - nice rumble on bottom end, highs have a great combo of air, detail and in no way sharp/dry, etc
Mids - i'll look further into that later.

And in the second half hour i used the norne silver draug cable and they work soooo well together. seriously well

using it mostly with my woo wa2 = more of a smooth silky tube amp rather than a gooey style and metrum hex dac

these are keepers!!!

in a nutshell i really do like these and are essentially what i hoped for, but did not necessarily expect them to be this good.
Now it's just a case of figuring out over time HOW much i like them

more to come later

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

I got in some new tubes and did some rolling in the Freya and wow the Auteurs sound damn near perfect tonight.

Rolled in some Raytheon JAN VT-231 on the gain and some Ken-Rad VT-231 on the followers. Man it brings out some very nice bass. I’m loving everything about this pairing!

I have the Ken-Rad VT-231 and I am not blown away by it... I feel like I haven't found the right combo of other tubes to make it shine? You have any recommendations for it? Feel free to PM, dont want to be off topic.

 

[LCMusicLover]

after trying the eikon and atticus briefly last year and not being won over (for my preferences) to hand over my money (after a lot of thinking, umming and ahhing) I decided to plunge into the auteur unheard. Closer to neutral which lines up with me better. It arrived today.

Very initial impressions - about an hour.

WOW!!
Very comfortable and light on my head (teak version) - did not expect that
Sound - nice rumble on bottom end, highs have a great combo of air, detail and in no way sharp/dry, etc
Mids - i'll look further into that later.

And in the second half hour i used the norne silver draug cable and they work soooo well together. seriously well

using it mostly with my woo wa2 = more of a smooth silky tube amp rather than a gooey style and metrum hex dac

these are keepers!!!

in a nutshell i really do like these and are essentially what i hoped for, but did not necessarily expect them to be this good.
Now it's just a case of figuring out over time HOW much i like them

more to come later

Glad you're liking them. I like my Blackwood Auteur best with my Silver Dragon cable, although the difference (vs ZMF OCC copper) is fairly marginal.

I think you mentioned you have a Cayin SS amp. Can you compare the sound between that and your Woo?

Thanks

 

[thecrow]

Glad you're liking them. I like my Blackwood Auteur best with my Silver Dragon cable, although the difference (vs ZMF OCC copper) is fairly marginal.

I think you mentioned you have a Cayin SS amp. Can you compare the sound between that and your Woo?

Thanks

I’ll try to post back anout the cayin in the next few days with the auteur in mind.

Generally speaking the woo wa2 has better detail but it’s a little like comparing apples and mandarins.

The cayin is an honest and good value amp at under $1k which is exactky what i was after for non high impedance headphones. Typical solid state.

Rarely is there an issue with the top end being too bright on some tracks. Very neutral and quite open and very even right across the spectrum. Coherent across that range. More so than the burson amps i used to own and liked in the past

I use it with lcd2 and elear (and focal spirot pro) and ananda when I had that) but not hd800

But at it’s best with balanced headphones as a lot of reviews have pointed out. Single ended is fine but not as good